Driver Education
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Early driver education in the United States was loose and inconsistent. New drivers might learn from a car dealership, or from a civic organization like the YMCA. In the 1930s, driver education became a standard part of public high school instruction. Courses involved a blend of study behind the desk and practice behind the wheel. By the early 2000s, school budget concerns had shifted driver education back into the private sector.
Certificate for Driving an Automobile in Chicago, Illinois, 1900 - 1
In the early 20th century, automobiles spread at a faster rate than the regulations to govern them. As late as 1910, only 12 states and the District of Columbia required drivers to be licensed. And even in those places, obtaining a license didn't require much more than filling out a form. There were no written exams or on-the-road driving tests.
View ArtifactMichigan Driver's License Issued to Henry Ford, 1919 - 1
Henry Ford's popular Model T, which turned the automobile from a luxury plaything into an everyday tool, prompted tighter regulations on motor vehicle operators. Mr. Ford himself didn't receive his first driver license until 1919 -- at 56 years of age and 23 years after he built his first experimental car.
View Artifact"Ford Manual for Owners and Operators of Ford Cars," 1914
Before driver licenses, the only real impediments to driving were being able to operate the controls and knowing what each control did. Vehicle owner manuals, like this one for a 1914 Ford Model T, included detailed instructions for starting, steering, shifting, speeding, stopping, servicing, and storing the car.
View ArtifactAutomobile Instruction for Men and Women, circa 1924
In many places, organizations like the YMCA offered driver training for women and men. Typical of the time, the program advertised in this brochure provided instruction not only in driving automobiles, but also in maintaining and repairing them. The program's first course even explained the basic principals by which an internal-combustion-engine automobile operated.
View ArtifactDriver Training Class Watching Automobile Repairs, 1937
By the 1930s, driver instruction was increasingly considered a part of a well-rounded American high school education. The students in this photo, taken in 1937, are learning about auto repair. At that time and for many years thereafter, knowing how a car worked was considered just as important as knowing how to drive it.
View ArtifactRating Sheet for Drivers, 1938
This early sheet rated student drivers on a 150-point scale. Instructors added points for each mistake, meaning that better driving earned a lower score. Some of the sheet's errors remain relevant -- not adjusting mirrors, braking too hard, getting distracted. Others are largely irrelevant -- clashing gears, riding the clutch. Note that mandatory seat belts were still 30 years away in 1938.
View ArtifactDriver Education and Training Manual for High School Teachers, 1940
Public schools undertook driver education largely on the theory that knowing how to operate a motor vehicle was part of being a responsible citizen. Early textbooks emphasized courtesy and responsibility behind the wheel. This teacher's manual, produced by the American Automobile Association, offered suggestions for how drivers, educators, and legislators might improve traffic conditions on U.S. roadways.
View ArtifactFord Good Drivers League Publication, "How to Become a Skilled Driver," 1940 - 2
Ford Motor Company launched its own driver education effort in 1940 via the Ford Good Drivers League. The program encouraged safe driving habits among high school students through state and national championships. More than 200,000 teenagers participated in the league before its work was cut short by America's entry into World War II.
View ArtifactHow to Be an Expert Driver, by Al Esper, Chief Test Driver, Ford Motor Company, 1947 - 1
Following the war, Ford Motor Company published a series of booklets under the title How to Be an Expert Driver. Illustrated in the style of a comic book, each edition featured Ford's Chief Test Driver, Al Esper, offering safe-driving advice to young people. Naturally, each booklet also included numerous references to safety-related features in Ford vehicles.
View ArtifactDeft Driving, 1950
After the Al Esper series ended, Ford published Deft Driving for several years in the 1950s. The new series was written by Milton D. Kramer of the Center for Safety Education at New York University. Each booklet included multiple-choice questions to test the reader's knowledge. Automakers distributed guidebooks to high schools -- hoping that student drivers would someday become loyal customers.
View ArtifactSportsmanlike Driving, 1961
The American Automobile Association's Sportsmanlike Driving, first published in the 1930s, was the most popular driver education textbook in the United States. Continuously updated, the book and its instructional curriculum were later retitled Responsible Driving. More recently, AAA launched an online instructional program under the title How to Drive.
View ArtifactThe Driver's Manual, 1953
One challenge in any national approach to driver education is the range of specific laws that vary by state. This handbook, published by the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles in 1953, detailed traffic regulations in the Constitution State. The Driver's Manual also included a list of locations at which prospective drivers could take the state's driver license examination.
View ArtifactDrivometer Test, Ford Good Drivers League, Ford Exposition, New York World's Fair, 1940
Virtual "behind-the-wheel" instruction was sometimes possible. Ford's Drivometer had students guide a model car using the controls in a full-size convertible. Aetna Insurance Company developed the Drivotrainer system, which electronically measured students' performance as they operated simulated car controls while "driving through" a synchronized motion picture.
View ArtifactNintendo DS Portable Drivers ED Game, 2008
By the 21st century, computer-based simulators were available to assist students. This game, designed for the Nintendo DS handheld gaming system, included questions drawn from driver examinations in all 50 states. It also featured a training mode that guided users through tasks like parallel parking, making three-point turns, and operating a manual transmission.
View ArtifactOldsmobile Special Driving Controls for Handicapped Persons and Driver Education Programs, 1965
Textbooks and simulators were important parts of driver education, but they were no substitute for real-world experience. Driving instructors used cars specially equipped with a second brake pedal on the front passenger side, as shown on page 6 of this 1965 Oldsmobile catalog. It took a special blend of sternness and serenity to guide student drivers on public roads.
View ArtifactThe National Drivers Test, 1965
Experienced drivers still needed a refresher course now and then. In May 1965, CBS News broadcast The National Drivers Test. Viewers participated at home by filling out pre-distributed test forms and comparing their answers with the correct ones given in the program. The show attracted an audience of 31 million people, and CBS News re-aired it later in the year.
View ArtifactHow to Earn the Keys to Dad's Car, 1966
Ford Motor Company's Lincoln-Mercury Division appointed Colette Daiute, Miss Teenage America 1966, as its youth safety spokesperson. Daiute was featured in the 1966 booklet How to Earn the Keys to Dad's Car, which included safe-driving tips for both teens and parents. The publication emphasized the use of seat belts, which were required by law in American cars as of 1968.
View Artifact"Student Driving Manual," 2008
Starting in the 1990s, strained budgets and expanded curriculum requirements prompted public schools to eliminate expensive driver education programs. Private driving schools, like the one operated by Sears department stores, stepped in to accommodate new motorists. In a way, it represented a return to early 20th-century practice, where new drivers had to seek out training on their own.
View Artifact"Watch Out! I'm Late for Driver's Ed Class" Bumper Sticker
This bumper sticker poked fun at student drivers, but the risks were real. In the early 2000s, teenage drivers were four times as likely to be involved in an accident as drivers age 20 and older. Graduated licensing programs, in which students first received restricted licenses that limited when and with whom they could drive, represented one effort to improve safety.
View ArtifactThe Driving Zone 2: Essential Knowledge & Information for the New Driver, 2011
In the 1990s, racer Andy Pilgrim began speaking to teenagers about the dangers of distracted driving. Those hazards grew -- for drivers of all ages -- with the spread of texting and smartphones. Pilgrim became a staunch advocate for better training and safer driving. His Traffic Safety Education Foundation provided training programs and informational DVDs for educators, parents, corporations, and civic groups.
View ArtifactPrecision Driving School with Derek Bell, circa 1990
Much like universities offer advanced study, licensed drivers can move beyond everyday street driving and learn more sophisticated techniques for the race track. Performance driving schools feature classes designed by professional drivers like five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell. Students gain expertise in acceleration, braking, gear shifting, and steering. They sharpen their mental concentration skills as well.
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